After initially being snubbed from the inaugural Teamfight Tactics Galaxies Championship, Oceanic players will now have a way to qualify for the colloquially dubbed “TFT Worlds” through North America.

Despite having a larger player base than Japan, Turkey, and Latin America, Oceania were snubbed of a spot in the initial TFT Galaxies Championship plan. However, on May 1, Riot announced a backflip of their plans, incorporating OCE into the North American qualifiers.

The top four OCE players will be invited to the 24-player OCENA final in September. However, they won’t qualify directly from ladder, instead using a fused ladder-qualifer model to determine who deserves to represent the region in the finals.

The top 32 players, based on nine weeks of ladder ranking starting on May 19, will be invited to a closed qualifier.

They will then play three rounds in a single elimination tournament. However, it’s unclear how exactly groups will be seeded, and how many series’ players will need to play.

The top four players from the OCE qualifier will then join NA’s best 20 for a chance to get two seats at the global Galaxies Championship.

The OCE qualifiers will only be open to players residing in the region. While the server has become a hotbed for Taiwanese and South East Asian players in the absence of TFT Mobile servers for their respective regions, only players residing in Australia, New Zealand, and selected Pacific islands will qualify for the closed finals.

The Teamfight Tactics Galaxies Championship is the first major Riot-backed esports endeavour in the autobattler’s 12 month history. 16 players from 10 regions across the world will be competing for $200,000 in the first TFT Worlds, as Riot looks to expand its esports ecosystem in 2020.

More information about the TFT Galaxies Championship can be found on the LoL Esports website.

Imagery supplied
Produced by Josh Swift

Ground Zero has a chance to become the first Contenders team in the new format to go undefeated across all four weeks of action, netting yet another win against the Sydney Drop Bears in Contenders Australia 2020 Season 1 Week 3.

The win was one of their most dominant, yet again only losing one map in their run. After sweeping ScrimBux, they had a slight hiccup on Oasis against Mindfreak, before turning up the heat against the Drop Bears in the final.

However, the team wasn’t as confident as they were in previous weeks. According to Felix “ckm” Murray, the break had thrown the team off slightly, and scrims were looking closer than ever before.

“This [win] is especially sweet,” the veteran DPS told Snowball Esports. “We weren’t feeling as ahead this week in scrims as we had in other weeks, so to pull up on match day like we did is a good feeling.”

It’s been a triumphant return for arguably Australia’s most storied flex DPS. After announcing his retirement in mid-2019, he’s come back with vengeance after the World Cup with Ground Zero, and has found the perfect balance between competitive Overwatch and his studies.

“I started planting seeds with Signed and Unter at BlizzCon about this season to slot back into Contenders,” he said. “So far I’ve been able to manage my time well enough, really just means sometimes I have to sacrifice some social activities when things get busy.”

The four weeks off gave Ground Zero time to refine their strategies ?— no matter how far ahead of the rest of the region they seem. On top of that, it gave them a chance to refine their communication, after a mad scramble before the start of the season saw many teams alter their rosters drastically.

“Communication has been a struggle for a while,” he admitted. “It’s really only been coming together recently and we have tons of work to do on that front still.

Regardless of how their communication might be behind the scenes, it’s almost impossible to see a flaw in their play. Their flexibility has allowed them to navigate whatever hero pool is thrown at them, and they have the ability to play counters better than their opponents can play their comfort.

This will become ever crucial with the release of Echo. Overwatch’s latest DPS is now unbanned, and while the Week 4 hero pool hasn’t been confirmed yet, if she is available to play, Ground Zero are ready to pick her up with open arms.

“I think the thing that makes Echo interesting is that she’s a strong dive and poke character, meaning she’ll be able to slot in as a key hero in numerous comps,” he said. “If she’s meta I assume everyone will be jumping on the chance to play her, since she’s fun as hell.”

Contenders Australia Week 3 – Top 5 ???

HD: https://t.co/g2dfJvHa9h
Full VOD: https://t.co/y1xeMe3LAx#overwatch #esports #contenders #australia pic.twitter.com/KcKQEn542R

— Blizzard Esports ANZ (@BlizzEsportsANZ) April 29, 2020

With only one week separating them from a perfect run in the new format, ckm stated Ground Zero aren’t getting too far ahead of themselves. There’s still a job to do, and if anyone can do it, it’s ckm and their veteran roster.

“Obviously we’re not getting too ahead of ourselves,” he said. “Things can change quickly with the fast changing metas. Provided we stay on top of our practice we should be good.”

In other results, Warriors broke into the top four for the first time this season, and locked their place in playoffs, after NoWeaver failed to submit a roster in Week 3. The French organization parted ways with their old roster during the mid-season break, but still currently hold the slot.

Kraken Esports Club also made their mark, jumping straight from Open Division into the top eight after taking down PowerAnchors in the round of 12.

Paradigm Shift, ScrimBux, and Athletico currently hold the final three playoffs spots, but with some teams hot on their heels, next week is going to prove ever crucial.

Contenders Australia 2020 Season 1 will return for Week 4 on May 11.

You can follow ckm and Ground Zero on Twitter.

Produced by Josh Swift

Gravitas top laner Jackson “Pabu” Pavone will be swapping allegiances ?— and roles ?— for OPL Split 2 2020, replacing Paris “Souli” Sitzoukis in the jungle for the struggling squad.

The OPL roster shuffle is kicking off with a bang, with a move set to shake up not just one, but two roles in the region.

Storied top laner Pabu, previously of Abyss, Avant, and Gravitas, will now be taking up a role swap into the jungle to replace Souli for Pentanet.GG, sources have told Snowball Esports.

Souli, in his first full split in the OPL, has struggled to find his footing. The hyped-up Pentanet roster fell flat, missing playoffs after a string of poor performances saw the team fall to sixth in the final days of the OPL.

Pabu, on the other hand, helped Gravitas find their footing late in the season. While they eventually finished in seventh, his stats were noticeably better than the likes of David “Beats” Nguyen-Dang and Lachlan “N0body” Keene-O’Keefe in the top lane in the five games he played.

He might not be known competitively for his jungle skill, but solo queue is a different story. He has ranked up multiple accounts playing jungle, peaking as high as 600 LP Challenger on his jungle-only account.

He will also bring a new set of skills to the role not necessarily seen by other junglers in the region. The fact he has played multiple lanes to the top of solo queue could prove to be the competitive edge Pentanet need to elevate themselves to playoffs in Split 2.

It is not yet known where Souli could be landing in the OPL off-season.

Follow Snowball Esports on Twitter for the latest OPL offseason news.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games
Produced by Josh Swift

Six Masters is almost upon us, with action kicking off in just under 24 hours. There’s some absolute belters awaiting Siege fans that could determine just how the final placements shape up in seven weeks.

The off-season for ANZ Siege is over. Rosters have been shuffled, and a new order is being set. The Six Masters is set to determine who is the second-in-line behind Fnatic, and the first week of action is set to be explosive.

Every week, we will be breaking down what you should expect from the week’s action with our expert predictions. Now, I can’t talk about these predictions without introducing our panel for the tournament. We’ve brought on five of ANZ Siege’s brightest minds (and me) to deliver you tips and analysis heading into each week of action.

• James “Devmarta” Stewart: Caster
• Michael “Guzz” Gurrie: Caster
• Brandon “Raven” Langiano: Caster
• Alex “Skye” McCallum: Observer
• Jess “Jess” Bolden: Analyst

While this piece will be an overview of our general predictions for the week, we will also have our own tips running alongside these. Be sure to check out Snowball Esports’ Twitter tomorrow for the full rundown.

Wildcard vs. SiNister

Prediction: 1-1 Draw

First up on the card is an absolute rip-snorter of a match ?— quite possibly one of the most exciting we will see all season. Wildcard and SiNister have just come off hard runs in Pro League, finishing in fourth and fifth respectively.

While it was a fall from grace for the second ANZ representative at Six Invitational 2020, Wildcard have also been working in some new talent in the background. Bolstering their forces with Onyxian’s Jonathan “Gio” Luciana and Kanga’s Patrick “Pat” Wines (formerly Thumbnail), Wildcard will be looking to keep marching on and improving their form as time wears on.

“With Wildcard yet to prove that their new roster can keep them at the top of ANZ, and Sinister off the back of a flawless end to Pro League, any result is possible.”
James “Devmarta” Stewart

SiNister, on the other hand, are on hot form. Their fifth place might not speak volumes, but they were dead last before the SI break. Since then, they’ve dropped one map ?— sweeping the tail end of Pro League, and taking out the LPL Pro Grand Final against LFO 3-1.

With both teams relatively evenly matched heading into Tuesday’s opener, the jury is split. While we know the peaks of Wildcard can make them the best team in ANZ, this new roster must prove themselves to scale to the heights of their pre-SI selves. If they can, then it’ll be a rough day at the office for SiNister.

Elevate vs. LFO

Prediction: Elevate 2-0

Results-based analysis would lead you to believe that Elevate should trounce LFO. After all, Elevate are arguably the best team in Six Masters in the absence of Fnatic, while LFO made it in through the Open Qualifiers.

However, this matchup could still prove to be a worthy fight. LFO did make it through mostly unscathed, dropping one map in their five-match run through the qualifiers, and did make it through to the LPL Pro finals against SiNister.

The former Oddity roster will have the odds stacked against them though when matched against Elevate. While they took a while to find their feet after adding Trent ‘Worthy’ Rose, they pulled back a top-two finish in Pro League Season 11 with clutch map wins over Fnatic and TBD.

While an Elevate win is expected, expect LFO to put up a fight. This is the perfect opportunity for the underdog squad to start making a name for themselves, and really punch their names in  ?— either as a full core or as individuals ?— for a possible appearance in Pro League Season 12.

TBD vs. Kanga

Prediction: TBD 2-0

TBD and Kanga is another game that might seem like a done deal on paper.

Kanga’s roster has struggled since being gutted by various top-table Pro League teams at the end of last season. The loss of Worthy and Thumbnail disrupted the bit of momentum they were building before the SI break, leaving the team floundering at the bottom of the ladder.

TBD, on the other hand, seemingly went from strength to strength. The ex-Mindfreak roster had a shaky start to play, before pulling it back after the break in tight games with Fnatic, Wildcard, and Elevate, cementing their status as a top four team in ANZ Siege.

TBD should take this game comfortably, but with more time with their new roster under their belt, Kanga should look better than they did at the end of Pro League.

Ferox vs. Pittsburgh Knights

Prediction: Split between Knights 2-0 & 1-1 draw

Now, we come to the matchup that has divided the panel the most. Ferox’s return to Rainbow Six with the old Fury roster is one of the biggest moves of the Pro League off-season, while Knights are looking to build off Pro League Season 11 with the same roster.

The new Ferox roster builds on the old Fury roster with a mix of veteran and young blood. While Todd “Todd” Francis has been around the top for years, this Six Masters marks Deptra’s real break into the top flight.

The previous matchup between these two rosters saw Knights walk away with a 7-5, 7-2 win at the tail end of Pro League Season 11. However, we’re yet to see what this new-look Ferox roster can do.

Tips-wise, the panel has been evenly split between a Knights win and a draw. While the Knights have the record against Ferox’s roster, their off-season moves could prove to be the X-factor that elevates this team into the top four of Six Masters.

Six Masters 2020 kicks off on Tuesday, April 28, at 7pm AEST with Wildcard vs SiNister. You can catch the action on the official Rainbow Six channel.

Be sure to follow Snowball Esports on Twitter for all your Six Masters content throughout the season, including tips, analysis, and interviews.

The Six Masters 2020 is kicking off on April 28 with more on the line than ever before, a $50,000 prize pool, and regional bragging rights to boot.

What once started as the FA Cup of Australian Rainbow Six, the Six Masters has now morphed into a title full of prestige and glory.

It’s making its return in 2020 for the third year running ?— and while we might not catch Siege’s biggest stars on stage, it’ll have big repercussions for the state of APAC in the future.

Eight teams will be matching up against each other in a single round-robin format, similar to how Pro League operates. However, this time, there’ll be no draws, with maps going into overtime if need be. $50,000 is on the line, with $15,000 lining the pockets of the winners.

Get excited Operators! The Six Masters is back for 2020! ???

To kick things off, we’re holding an Open Qualifier on April 18th!
Teams can register here ? https://t.co/bePgzZB4rD

More information to come soon – stay tuned… pic.twitter.com/iBa0TH7CFM

— Rainbow 6 ANZ (@Rainbow6ANZ) April 10, 2020

Seven Pro League teams ?— Elevate, TBD, Wildcard, SiNister, Knights, Fury, and Kanga ?— will be looking to lift the title at the end of the season. One Challenger League team, LFO, will also have the chance to make their mark, after qualifying via the Open Bracket on April 19.

“The Six Masters has truly become a flagship national tournament within the global Rainbow Six circuit and I’m incredibly excited to deliver another amazing season in partnership with ESL,” said Shane Bailey, Esports Manager at Ubisoft Australia.

“With Oceanic teams showing even more promise this past Pro League season in combination with our further dedication to Rainbow Six esports in the region, I’m certain this will be the most entertaining season of Six Masters yet.”

• Read more: Snowball partners with Ubisoft for Six Masters 2020

Fnatic is a notable exemption from the lineup for Six Masters. APAC’s perennial champions have just come off yet another Pro League victory in Season 11, however they will not be defending their 2019 title.

Six Masters 2020 will also be the first tournament after the global shift for Pro League Season 12. With leagues across the world moving to LAN events, APAC will be divided into two regions across the coming months.

The upcoming Six Masters will be tied into the new global landscape for Siege esports, with more information to be released at a later date.

The Six Masters kicks off on April 28 at 7pm AEST. Games will be played every Tuesday and Wednesday evening.

For more Six Masters coverage, including match predictions, wrap-ups, and interviews, be sure to stick with Snowball Esports.

The Six Masters is returning soon, and Snowball Esports is proud to be covering one of the pinnacle events on the Rainbow Six ANZ calendar.

Snowball Esports is proud to announce our partnership with Ubisoft Australia for the Six Masters 2020 season, providing in-depth media coverage and analysis for the event across all channels.

The best teams from across the country ?— from Six Invitational veterans to up-and-coming stars ?— will be colliding over a number of weeks to determine who is the best team in Australia.

• Read more: Six Masters 2020 to tie into new Rainbow Six global esports circuit

You’ll find weekly wrap-ups and predictions for the Six Masters, as well as player interviews and more right here on Snowball.

We are excited to keep telling the stories of the ANZ Rainbow Six scene, from grassroots to Pro League. With Pro League Season 11 wrapped up, and the future APAC expansion on the horizon, there’s never been a more exciting time to follow Siege.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled on Snowball Esports, as well as the Rainbow 6 ANZ Twitter for all things Six Masters.

Ground Zero have locked their place into the Overwatch Contenders Australia Season 1 2020 playoffs after claiming their second victory in a row, although they faced new opposition in Sydney Drop Bears in this week’s final.

Ground Zero’s firm grip on the rest of the Contenders field was tightened in Week 2, after the Perth-based org secured their second weekly win and another 100 points. However, instead of getting a rematch with NoWeaver, they faced down the old dynasty of the Sydney Drop Bears to run it back.

The three-time champions of Contenders Australia look vastly different from when they were winning titles back in 2018, although the same fighting spirit lives on. After a 3-4th place finish in Week 1, the Drop Bears clawed their way back into the final of Week 2 after taking down NoWeaver 3-0.

It was redemption for Winter “Winter” Thomas and his squad, who had to recuperate after a tough loss to the French organization.

• Read more: Ground Zero settle into Contenders Australia with almost flawless first week

“The first week’s loss was tough on the boys,” he told Snowball Esports. “We knew we were better but just played awfully on the day.

“That week we also had me on hitscan and thk on projectile which we thought was good, but in the end it wasn’t, so over the past two weeks we put me back on projectile and thk back on hitscan and really grinded it out. In the end, it paid off.”

Working in the Thai DPS has been easier than expected for Winter. Having worked alongside Korean and Pacific talent like Dreamer and Nyang last season, bringing in thk helped them fill out some depth in their squad, even if there’s a little language barrier.

“Incorporating thk has been really easy for us as he’s really given his all to learn English through lessons and convos with us all. He’s also really friendly and fits into our environment really well as he’s not afraid to have some banter.”

Doing what’s best for the team, instead of trying to flex his mechanical muscle, has also been the path Winter’s taken throughout his career. He doesn’t see himself as the player to pop off anymore, instead making sure that his teammates can get the spotlight, and ultimately do what gets the team the win.

“After gaining experience throughout my whole career, I’ve turned into more of a stepping stone for my teammates to carry,” he said. “I like doing the stuff that doesn’t get appreciated, and doesn’t get the big reactions from the casters and the fans, but rather what leads to those moments.

“I have spent the last three seasons being the IGL for my teams and I feel like that has given me further knowledge on how I analyse what’s going on in front of me. I can’t 1v6, I’m not as gifted as players such as ckm, Signed, and Jordation.

“I’ve developed into a more ‘What can I do for the team, not what the team can do for me’ player. I don’t get those big pop-off moments that go in montages and highlight reels, but it brings the team wins, and wins are what matters.”

After locking down the 50 points for making it to the grand final, they were hopeful to try and double it. However, they couldn’t contain the beast that is Ground Zero, with Winter noting that the now two-time Contenders bracket winners look unstoppable.

“GZG have been ahead of the pack these past two weeks,” he said, “however I think the bans have favoured them. They’ve had Adam on his signature D.Va pick, although beating them just comes down to who plays better on the day.”

Among the carnage though, the Drop Bears did find a weak spot in Ground Zero’s armour on Watchpoint: Gibraltar. A strong defense snowballed into a good offense, with SDB stealing away their perfect week in the second-last map.

ggs @GroundZeroOCE 3-1 loss, almost got to map 5. Was a really fun game and we have definitely improved since last week. Here is me getting a shatter so fat I fucking choked up. pic.twitter.com/GIH2yZczts

— Minny (@Minny_OW) March 16, 2020

They caught Ground Zero by surprise with Hanzo, Baptiste, and Sigma, three heroes that might not have seen play if it weren’t for the hero bans. With Winston out of the picture for Week 2, along with Lucio, dive comps have been a bit stunted, and bunker made a short brief rise.

Sydney Drop Bears’ flexibility allowed them to work around these bans, and played around Ground Zero’s Torbjorn strategy perfectly.

“Hero bans are decent for us as we have six really flexible players on our line-up,” said Winter. “It’s more about finding what works best for everyone and then seeing how that matches up against other teams.”

When the rematch eventually comes ?— which Winter is sure will happen ?— Sydney Drop Bears won’t be caught off-guard again. They’ve only got Ground Zero in their sights, and they’ll fight to try and reclaim their spot at the top.

“GZG are our only threat and we are not worried about anyone else.”

In the week’s other action, Mindfreak cemented their second straight 3-4th result with a loss to GZG in the semi, while NoWeaver only managed to rack up 35 points after making the grand final in Week 1.

Athletico were knocked out early in the bracket by Paradigm Shift, while Warriors fell short of their first top four berth once again. ScrimBux and X69GAMING rounded out the rest of the top eight, securing 20 points.

Overwatch Contenders Australia will return in May. Open Division will take place in the coming weeks, with eight spots in Trials up for grabs.

You can follow Winter and Drop Bears on Twitter

Produced by Josh Swift

Welcome back to Sliding Doors, where each week we run through the OPL teams with sometimes spicy, sometimes nice if/then takes, and every now and then an additional bonus one around a special topic.

You might be familiar with this concept if you’re an AFL fan, which is where we got the idea. So without further ado, here are your sliding doors for OPL Split 1, Week 7!

That’s all we have for this week! We’ll be back every Friday with a new Sliding Doors for the OPL.

The Oceanic Pro League returns today.

Jessica “Jess” Bolden has done it all in Rainbow Six ?— player, coach, and now caster ?— and while she was only ever in Siege for a break from her criminology career, she’s back into the thick of it, and going along wherever it takes her.

Jess never intended on staying in Rainbow Six for long. While she played during the early days of the scene at a top level, she was busy wrapping up her Masters in Criminal Justice and looking at a career in criminology.

Siege, for her, was a chance to learn another language and work in Europe.

“I wanted to learn another language, and I took German as a result,” she said. “I took German in the last semester of my Masters degree on top of my thesis, and the university let me, and then taking the job with Penta kinda spurred on picking German rather than another language.

“I thought ‘yeah great, I’ll work with Penta, I’ll learn the language, live overseas for a while, come back, do my PhD,’ and it’ll just be the same.”

It wasn’t the same. Now, two years later, the criminologist-by-trade has done it all. From player, to coach, and now desk analyst at the Six Invitational ?— her first major casting event ?— Jess is still getting caught up in the rabbit hole of esports.

• Read more: Elevate re-enter Rainbow Six through ANZ, sign former Oddity roster

This time last year though, she was behind a desk of a different kind. She was coaching a new Penta roster at the event, mashing together her analytical skills from her ‘real-life’ profession and her burning passion for Siege.

However, that passion was slowly dwindling in the final days of the Penta roster. The team disappointingly missed out on a spot on main stage in 2019 to APAC’s Nora Rengo, before the team slowly slid down the rankings.

“There was a time in coaching where there was a distinct moment where I lost my passion, and I think that was forced upon me by some players [at Penta] who had already lost their passion,” she said.

Faced with the decision of coming home and returning back to criminology, leaving behind her life in Europe and her Siege career entirely, she instead stuck it out, rekindling her passion with a group of upstarts ready to set the world on fire.

Those upstarts were Italy’s Samsung Morning Stars. Coaching them was like a completely different game, and soon after, she realized why she went and learned German in university ?— even if it didn’t prove to be worth much on the other side of Europe.

“Those young players ?— anything that came out of my mouth was gold for them,” Jess said. “They wanted to take it, they wanted to do it, they didn’t care about how much I criticized them or how much positivity I gave them, they just wanted to be better.

“I took pretty much Tier 4, Tier 3 players up to close to Tier 2 in close to three months. We made PG Finals, and then unfortunately the whole visa issue happened and I went ‘I don’t ever want to go back to what happened at the end of Penta’ and I wanted to hold those really good feelings I had at the end of those three months.”

After being sent home back to Australia, Jess once again came to a crossroads. Does she keep digging further into the rabbit hole of Siege? Or does she take flight from the scene once and for all.

Her choice was made for her though. She was invited out to the Six Invitational as an analyst, where she could share her previous experiences with Penta and Samsung in a broadcast capacity.

“I think I’m predominantly charismatic and I’m pretty well-spoken when I put my mind to it, so I think it’s a really good opportunity to use my critical thinking skills, my high level analysis from coaching and just playing Siege for so long.

“I was a competitive player as well, so I’ve been in every area that you could really be in Siege, so I feel lucky to be able to speak about the game at a super critical level and being confident in doing so. It fits me because I can say what I want without the worry of hurting a player’s feelings.”

She also got to have a look back at the scene she was once a part of in APAC. While coaching in Europe made following along with the Aussies harder, seeing Fnatic, Wildcard, and Giants at the Six Invitational brought a smile to her face.

It gave her the same feeling she had when she got the chance to explore the world through Siege with Penta.

“The globalisation that I felt from Siege has been at ?— both at face value and at intricate levels ?— is incredible,” she said.

“I’ve flown around the world in eight months, I’ve been to all different continents, all different countries and cities, and I’ve learned culture that I would have never learned otherwise.”

However, her analytical side also took over. APAC has always been in a rough spot on the international stage, and the tides don’t look like changing just yet. While the region is always touted as underdogs at major international events, year on year, skeptics are proven right.

“I think APAC unfortunately ?— I always felt this after being a part of it as a competitive player and then from the outside looking in ?— is that everyone underestimates the capacity of APAC as whole. Not just ANZ, but the other regions as a whole. Unfortunately, statistically, they’re not wrong. On the numbers, on paper, they are the weaker region and they have been for a while.

“Fnatic has allowed us to skew the results in our favour a little bit further, but I also just feel that we don’t have the support staff and capability ?— the simple things that you’d need to be a high calibre team ?— is not provided in any other team aside from Fnatic at the moment, and that’s why they themselves have come so far.”

With the Six Invitational over, Jess has once again got to make that decision between her passion and her profession.

“I have two options essentially. I either dig as far as this rabbit hole will let me dig and it’ll probably pop me out at the other side of the world if I keep going at the rate I’m going, or I stop it completely, cover up the hole, and just remove myself from this scene 100% otherwise I won’t thrive in my area of my industry if I have one foot in each door.

“I have a visa meeting coming up, so I’ll move back to Italy for 12 months, it’s easy to travel there, everything’s accessible, stream from home.

“My partner lives in Italy as well so it’s easier for me and her, so if I get some good offers, and they sound like they’re coming up, then I might be stuck here for a lot longer than I planned ?— stuck in a good way.”

Passion won out again, and Jess wouldn’t have it any other way.

You can follow Jess on Twitter.

The Chiefs have kicked off the OPL season with a surprising 10-0 to shake up the power rankings, and MSI is now in their sights. While Chris “SeeEl” Lee is obviously chuffed, the coach says it’s got nothing to do with him, and everything to do with his “geniuses.”

The story of SeeEl doesn’t begin with his League accolades. It starts from when he was kicked out of home as a baby-faced 17-year-old fresh out of high school.

“I got kicked out of home when I was 17 and I didn’t have a good relationship with either of my parents,” he said. “Even though we were relatively well-off, I was basically homeless, so I went out and took whatever jobs I could get.

“I was a removalist, a cleaner, a waiter, a kitchen-hand — which is why I cut onions so well. I was going to uni full-time but I really wanted money so I was like ‘f**k it, I’ll ditch it and work full time.’ I was at uni, working three jobs, doing 90-100 weeks.”

While the 23-year-old coach of the Chiefs has no notable results to his name, and no competitive experience as a pro, he’s got the work ethic to prove that his players are the best in the region.

He’s transformed ?— what was on paper ?— a relatively unremarkable Chiefs roster on paper to one of the dominant forces of Oceanic League. If you asked him about it though, he’d tell you that it’s almost got nothing to do with him.

“On paper, we were the underdogs for a reason,” he said. “We have one veteran mid, but we have a fifth place AD carry, Croc had to take the entirety of 2018 off because of wrist issues, KoreaCK hasn’t played a stage game once, and Thien was a sixth-man.”

While SeeEl doesn’t have much coaching experience in the top flight, he’s been trying to instill into his roster of misfits the idea of not just playing for next week, but playing for next year. He’s got direction, he’s put in the effort, and he’s being a role model for the rest of his team.

“No one on the team is actually cocky. No one is arrogant enough to think that it’ll be a free run, and I drill it through them every day that ‘today is a fresh start,’ have that fresh mindset when you come to practice, and make sure to stay humble.

“I’m trying to instill a championship mentality into the entire team, as well as prepare them for stage games. Not just the best of ones, which I think a lot of games could have gone both ways, but best of threes and fives.”

Gosh dang, what a way to close the game.#IAMOPL #CHFWIN pic.twitter.com/cW4dXX5PeI

— The Chiefs (@ChiefsESC) February 29, 2020

SeeEl’s long term focus with the Chiefs has been noticeable with their performances throughout OPL 2020. They haven’t had some of the cleanest games early, but once late-game rolls around, they look unstoppable.

Having every role filled with mechanical prodigies, the next step isn’t just getting them through the OPL, but giving them the skills, and the work ethic, to try and make it internationally ?— either as a team, or as individuals.

“We need to take that mindset where we do what we can as players and as coaches to take a step forward and be willing to learn certain concepts about the game that’s 100% required for international that might not be the best for the upcoming week.

“I’ll teach them how to play the game instead of playing against certain teams, and I think that’s been instrumental to our success.”

However, working together a mixed roster has proven to be difficult. Croc and KoreaCK’s mother tongue isn’t English, so team communication has been a struggle. However, SeeEl has tried to make it work, thinking outside the box of what OCE teams would normally do.

“One of the reasons why we have so many Koreans in the house is to instill the Korean League environment. We have me, KoreaCK, Croc, and PADO ?—  so that the house atmosphere is different.

“When I speak, Croc and CK are in full respect mode. They’ll talk back when they think my feedback is wrong and I encourage that kind of environment. I want players to tell me I’m wrong, but we have that Korean atmosphere, so because of that, the others just naturally mold into that.”

“When I came to the Chiefs, I thought these guys would all be lazy gamers and they wouldn’t keep up with me, but they all work bloody hard and I’m pretty impressed.”

The Korean-style of League of Legends tutelage is a far cry from what most players, like Thien, Katsurii, and Claire would expect from Oceania. It took some time for the team to adjust to the work ethic SeeEl asked his players for.

“Claire got to where he was through pure talent,” he said. “He’s a genius. However, the [OCE] environment is awful. Players just want a chill environment, and no one can imagine the environment that I instill upon the players.

“Thien, Katsurii, and Claire had spouts of disrespect at one point, which is reasonable because they were like ‘who is SeeEl? What is this guy? He’s never had a pro split, he’s like Diamond 2 peak in League, he came ninth place in the OCS, who is this guy? Why do I have to listen to him?’

“At one point, they were like ‘I don’t have anything to learn from SeeEl.’ Look at us now.”

Counting my players out of rookies to watch…

Watch out for world class jungle and support plays.

— Chris Lee (SeeEl) (@coachseeel) January 30, 2020

With his band of geniuses on his side, the Chiefs don’t have their sights set on a perfect 21-0. In fact, they are ready to drop games to everyone in the OPL.

“I think Dire Wolves and Legacy are our biggest rivals, but it’s not that simple. Any of these teams can upset us ?— Order and Avant can beat us at any time, and I think against Gravitas we could have lost, and Mammoth had a pretty good draft against us but just executed it wrong.”

However, where SeeEl does see this team is on the MSI stage, wherever in the world that may be come May, and ready to show that his Chiefs roster aren’t the pushovers like teams gone by.

“This team isn’t meant to be where it is, but it isn’t here because I’m amazing as a coach ?— these players were swept under the rug and put on terrible rosters, or they were hidden gems. They’re all honestly geniuses, they all take feedback very well, they improve very efficiently, and quite honestly, these players will without a doubt go international.

“CvMax said this once: ‘a lot of coaching is just luck,’ and I was like: I have geniuses in Croc and Thien, the gigahard worker in Robert, and the older voices of CK and Claire who add a nice balance to the team, and now we’ve just gotta produce the results.”

The Chiefs will look to continue their undefeated streak against Mammoth and Dire Wolves in Week 6 of the OPL from 5pm on Saturday March 8.

You can follow SeeEl and The Chiefs on Twitter.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games